Therapeutic machine having bed-over-hanging body-contacting head for stimulating blood circulation



March 11, 1958 E. HOLLAND 2,826,181 THERAPEUTIC MACHINE HAVING BED-OVERHANGING BODY-CCNTACTING. HEAD FOR STIMULATING BLOOD CIRCULATION Filed March 8, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. da /'5 5. /o/h/m 4rraP/1/EL March 11, 1958 L. E. HOLLAIBVID 2,826,181

THERAPEUTIC MACHINE HAVING BED-OVERHANGING BODY-CONTACTING HEAD FOR STIMULATING BLOOD CIRCULATION Filed March 8, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M m an .76 4% 42 A 25 25 A w 4 o o i l l i THERAPEUTIC FMACHINE "HAVING BED-OVER- HANGING -BODY'-CONTACTING FOR STIMULATJNG BLQOD CIRCULATION LouisE. Holland, Lees Summit, Mo.

"Application-March 8,1954, SerlalzNo: 414,568 3 Claims. (craze-45s or other disabled persons who are-unable to conveniently employ the inachines of r'n'y said prior disclosures.

"It is an "important -*ctliject of-the'present invention to provide a massaging machine having a novel support or amount rendering the rotatablemassag'er itself maneuverable: to the 'ex'ten that-the samemay be positioned whereever des'ired with "re'spect to'the body of the person to be trea'ted thereby. 7 Another im ortant object 5 of the present "invention is the provision of' a therapeutic' machine"having a rotatable ma's'sager mountedon a c-arr'iage that is notonly swingableon its support, but "reciprocable therealong and rotatable on the support for the purpose of permitting v-irtually any desired positioning of the massager.

A further object-ofthe'ins'tant inventi'onis to provide a "massaging machine wherein the carriage upon which the nias'sageris rotatably"rnounted isbalanced onitssupport in two directions, not 'onIybyseIecting a center of gravityfor swingingmovement, but by provision of a counterweight that helpshold the carriage in selected positions along itsreciprocable path-of travel on the sup- .port.

*aOth'er objects include .many important details of con- -lstructi'on, allofwhich .will bemadescle'ar or become apparent as the' following specification'progresses,.reference behing hada'tothe accompanying drawing, wherein: Rigureulris aside elevation-a1 view ofvatherapeuticmachiliet'having bed-overhanging body-contacting head' for stimulating blood circulation made pursuant to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view thereof.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal, crosssectional view through the carriage.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, vertical, cross-sectional view through the carriage and its support at the point of intersection and still further enlarged.

Fig. 6 is a vertical, cross-sectional view through the support or standard at its uppermost end.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevational view of the standard and the carriage mount looking in the direction of the motor housing; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7.

The general purposes of the present invention, so far as therapeutic value of the instant invention is concerned,

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are the same as set' forthin my prior disclosures abovementioned andsaid 'disclosures are, "therefore-incorporated herein by way' ofreference. In this respect, there tow, a rotatablemass-agerbroadlydesignated by the nu- -meral 10, may'taketheggeneral form of' either of said prior disc1osures-andmeed not'furtherbe described'in cle- =tail. It is suHieient-topointout'that the massager l'tl includes a rotatable shaft 12 provided'witha plurality'of fiex-ible paddles "14 that extend radially: from the shaft 10 when the latter is. rotating. In accotdancewith' theprinciples of the present invention the rotatable m-assager10 is mounted 'on a carriage broadly.designated' by the numeral 16 that is in turn attached-to a-'support 138 -for movement relative thereto in a; plurality of directions. The supportfl18 includes a base 20 that maybe provided with a pluralityofcaster wheels 22 for-rendering the support 18 mobile. Base 20 carries an elongated, prferably-tubular standard 24, and'it is =upon the stan'dard 24 that'carriage 16 is swingably, rotatablyand reciprocabl-y-mounted.

Carriage 1.6 includes a housing' 26 foraprime mover such as a reversible electric motor 28, together with a pair of spaced, --later-al-lyextending-arms 30 and 32 that are likewise preferably tubular. 'The means for operably coupling the prime'mover 28 with the massager 10 shown in FigA4-of the-drawings,'includes ashaft 34 rotatably mounted within thearm'fil)andhaving a pulley 36 within theh'ousing 2'6-that receives" an endless'belt 38 also trained around a;-pu1ley 40 on the-drive shaft of'motor 28. 'The-shaft'12 df themassager 10-which isrotatably carried -by the'arms 30 andf32 is proizidedwi'th a worm gear *42 that"meshes-with a worm "44 onithe shaft 34. p t

The means foroperably mounting the carriage 16 upon the standard 24 =includesfffirst an element in; the nature'of a collar -46"slic lable on"the- 'standard}24*for reciprocation -longitudinallythereof. A-pairyofcables 48 attachedat one end thereof to the collar '46, extends 1 1pwardly-along the standard 24"- ex-teriorly' thereof around pulleys-"50 carried by the standard 24 and thence downwardlyFinto the standard 24 for connection withweight means 52freel'y reciprocablewithin the-standard 24. The collar 46 embraces and mounts-a sectional mcmher in the nature of-asleeve54"thatisin 'turn provided with a pair of-diam'etrically opposed, internally tapped bosses 56-and '57. The bosses 56 and 57 sv'viirg'ablyneceive a pair of; opposed plates 58' and'60-through' theme- 'diumof pintles 62 attached to the bosses 56 and 57.

Plates 58 and 60 are rigidly secured to the housing26-as is seen in' Figs. 1and2 of the drawings.

That end of the-plate Gil-remote from"thehousing-"26 is provided with'aserni circular extension 64 thatcooperates with extensible structure *broa'dly designated by the numeral -66 forueleasablydiolding "the carriage 16= "rigidly attached to the standard 24. Boss 56 carries a swingable yoke 68 that depends therefrom and which in turn receives a hollow block 70 at its lowermost end interposed between plate extension 64 and the standard 24 as best seen in Fig. 5.

A rod member 72 traverses the block and is provided with a fingerpiece 74. Rod 72 rotatably carried by the block 70 is rectangular in cross-section as shown in Fig. 5 within the block 70 and the latter carries a pair of spacers 76, one on each side of the rod 72. A pair of resilient discs 78 made from leather or other suitable material, are interposed between the spacers 76 and the rod 72. Similarly, a disc 80 engages the plate extension 64 and a disc 82 similar to discs 78 and 80, is interposed between the standard 24 and the proximal spacer 76.

An arch member 84 carried by the arms 30 and 32 mounts a heat lamp 86, such as infrared above the rotatable massager 10 and having a guard 87. The lamp 86 may be controlled by an electric switch 88 and the "reversible motor 28 may be controlled by a switch as- ,tween housing 26 and massager 10, and while it is also desirable that the counterweight 52 be substantially as ,heavy as the carriage 16 and its component parts, carriage 16 may be held against all movement with respect to the support 18 simply by rotation of the rod 72 through use of the fingerpiece 74 to the position illustrated in Fig. of the drawings. When the rod 72 is in such position the spacers 76 and the discs 78, 80 and 82 are expanded outwardly spanning the distance between the extension 64 and the standard 24 and wedged tightly in place to prevent rotation of the plate 64 with respect to the standard 24.

The extensible locking structure 66 that binds between the extension 64 and the standard 24, also holds the carriage 16 against rotation and reciprocation with respect to the standard 24. Ninety degree rotation of the control rod 72 releases the locking means 66 whereupon the carriage 16 may be freely swung on the aligned axes of pintles 62 that intersect the standard 24 radially thereof. Such release of the locking means 66 also permits free rotation of the carriage 16 around the collar 46 and around the longitudinal axis of the standard 24 by virtue of the free rotational fit of the sleeve 54 on collar 46.

Still further, when the lock 66 is released, the carriage 16 may be moved bodily along the longitudinal axis of standard 24 because of the sliding arrangement between the collar 46 and the standard 24. It is important to note at this point that swinging movement of the standard 16 on pintles 62 and rotational movement of the carriage 16 around the collar 46, does not adversely affect the cables 48 since the collar 46 remains stationary on the standard 24 during swinging and rotational movement of the carriage 16.

It can now be appreciated that the massager may be disposed in virtually any desired selected position so that all parts of the body of the user may be reached and upon energization of motor 28, the flexible paddles 14 brought into gentle slapping and patting engagement with all parts of the body.

It can now be appreciated that the therapeutic machine above described is particularly adapted for use by persons in a prone or supine position since the carriage 16 which extends laterally outwardly from the standard 24 may be positioned in overlying relationship to a bed simsoj ply by moving the entire machine into position through use of the roller means 22.

Still further, while the massaging machine forming the subject matter of the present invention has been designed especially for use in connection with beds and the like, the maneuverability of carriage 16 permits the employment of the massager 10 while the user is either standing or sitting, particularly since the carriage 16 may be swung on the pintles 62 through a wide arc concentric with the axes of the pintles 62. The balance that is provided by use of the counterweight 52 and by proper positioning of the pintles 62 with respect to the center of gravity of carriage 16, facilitates use of the machine and permits adjustments of the carriage 16 relative to the support 18 with ease and without consumption of undue energy or time.

Still further, as set forth in my copending application Serial No. 352,788, the disposition of the massager 10 within the rays of heat emanating from lamp 86 reduces the possibility of burn because of the way in which the paddles 14 interrupt the heat rays continuously while the massager 10 is rotating.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a therapeutic machine, a vertical support; a collar surrounding the support and reciprocable vertically thereon; a carriage; structure mounting the carriage on said collar for rotation about the vertical axis of said support; a massager mounted on the carriage; pulley means on the support; cable means trained around the pulley means and secured to said collar; and weight means attached to the cable means for supporting the carriage.

2. In a therapeutic machine, a support; an element reciprocable on the support; a member rotatable on said element; a carriage; means pivotally mounting the carriage for swinging movement on said member; a massager mounted on the carriage; pulley means on the support; cable means trained around the pulley means and secured to said element; weight means attached to the cable means for supporting the carriage; and expansible means interposed between the support and the carriage for holding the latter rigid to the support.

3. In a therapeutic machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein is provided means mounting the carriage on said structure for swinging movement on a horizontal axis traversing the carriage and the support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 721,737 Owens Mar. 3, 1903 732,414 Ingram June 30, 1903 787,168 Gibson Apr. 11, 1905 978,760 Langworthy Dec. 13, 1910 1,645,339 Monroe Oct. 11, 1927 2,062,300 Erickson Dec. 1, 1936 1 2,232,254

Morgan Feb. 18, 1941 

